Day 3: Bottas fastest, late trouble for Ferrari

Valtteri Bottas set fastest lap-time in the third of the testing, the Mercedes duo complete successful race simulation, 165 laps produced today with zero trouble.

Ferrari man Sebastian Vettel made second fastest lap-time and racking up 139 laps, but the final phase of the day the German stop SF70-H on the pit straight and its cause the final red flag of the session.

The Red Bull speedy Daniel Ricciardo made third quickest lap. The Australian managed to complete 70 laps and concluded the day 1.448s off the pace set by Bottas.

Renault ace Jolyon Palmer taking the morning session, he spun at turn three early on due to cooler conditions, bringing out the red flag, and his team-mate Nico Hulkenberg taking the evening session, the duo were split by just three-tenths and finished fourth and fifth respectively.

Marcus Ericsson set sixth fastest lap-time for Sauber. The Swede racking up 126 laps and was just over two seconds off the pace, he did the best time on the super-soft.

Haas F1’s Romain Grosjean made seventh fastest time with, followed by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton who focused mainly on longer runs.

The Williams rookie Lance Stroll hits the wall after losing the car on the exit of turn five, the 18-year-old Canadian made ninth fastest and completed 98 laps.

McLaren also covered better mileage, Fernando Alonso did a trouble-free day of running on Wednesday as he completed 72 laps. The Spaniard best lap, a 1m22.598s with ultra-softs compounds.

Force India reserve driver Alfonso Celis Jr. had a quiet day in the VJM10, finishing the day in 12th splitting the Toro Rosso duo Carlos Sainz and Daniil Kvyat, totally they managed 63 laps.